Crime in Maldon district: statistics, rates and trends

Violence and sexual offences (1,728), anti-social behaviour (388) and criminal damage and arson (287) made up 68% of all recorded crime. Its crime rate ranks 286th of the 302 districts covered by this site (1 = highest), in the lowest tenth.

Recorded crime in Maldon district peaked in the year to August 2021 (4,851 crimes) and was lowest in the year to August 2025 (3,290). Between the years to August 2018 and 2026 it fell 6%, in line with England and Wales.

Month by month

No category with at least 20 crimes was notably above the England and Wales rate, and shoplifting (76% below) and vehicle crime (66% below) were well below it. On the year before, anti-social behaviour rose from 219 to 388 and criminal damage and arson rose from 240 to 287, while vehicle crime fell from 165 to 118 and shoplifting fell from 194 to 141.

What each category covers: crime categories.

3,096 crimes, excluding fraud, were recorded by the police in Maldon district in the year ending March 2026, according to the Home Office's police recorded crime statistics. That is 44.8 per 1,000 residents, lower than the England and Wales rate of 83.2. The total was almost unchanged on the year ending March 2025 (3,103), against a fall of 2% across England and Wales. Among the 272 districts of England and Wales with a figure for that year, Maldon district had the 17th lowest rate (the street-level ranking above is among the 302 districts with street-level pages on this site, over the 12 months to August 2026).

Of the crimes recorded in the Essex Police area in the year ending March 2026, 1.9% were not assigned to a district. Those crimes are counted in the force and England and Wales totals but in no district, so the figure for Maldon district is a slight undercount.

Offences recorded in Maldon district, the year ending March 2026

The largest category was violence without injury, with 588 offences (19% of the total). No category with at least 20 offences had a rate a quarter or more above the England and Wales rate. Rates were lowest relative to the national rate for shoplifting (0.29 times), vehicle offences (0.38 times) and non-residential burglary (0.39 times).

The largest rises on the year were in possession of drugs (+42%) and possession of weapons (+32%). The largest falls were in non-residential burglary (−38%) and vehicle offences (−33%). Robbery of business property and shoplifting are not compared with the year ending March 2025: from April 2025 the Home Office Counting Rules were clarified so that a theft from a shop in which violence is used or threatened against staff or anyone else is recorded as robbery of business property rather than shoplifting (ONS).

Recorded crime in Maldon district since the year ending March 2013

The chart shows police recorded crime per 1,000 residents in each year ending March from 2013 to 2026. Maldon district's rate was below the England and Wales rate in every one of those 14 years. Changes in how forces record crime move these figures as well as changes in crime (methodology).

Districts in the Essex Police area, the year ending March 2026

Of the 14 districts in the Essex Police area with a figure for the year ending March 2026, Maldon district had the 2nd lowest rate.

Source: Home Office police recorded crime and outcomes open data tables (released 23 July 2026), gov.uk, Open Government Licence v3.0. Financial years, excluding fraud; how they differ from the street-level figures: methodology.

Every one of the 8 nearest districts has a higher crime rate than Maldon district.

Of the 27 areas within Maldon district, Maldon North had the highest crime rate (121.2 per 1,000) and Tolleshunt Knights the lowest (18.8), 6 times apart.

The 10 locations below account for 15% of the crime recorded in Maldon district over the 12 months to August 2026; the most were recorded at “Parking Area” (139).

Of the 3,147 crimes in Maldon district with a recorded outcome, 27% ended with the investigation complete and no suspect identified, against 35% across England and Wales; 4.3% were awaiting a court outcome (England and Wales: 5.2%). The 388 anti-social behaviour reports have no outcome and are left out.

Maldon district has an estimated population of 69,131 (ONS, mid-2024). Compared with England and Wales it has fewer households without a car (11%, against 23%), fewer students (4.3%, against 7.9%) and less private renting (12%, against 20%). On the England IoD 2025, the small areas (LSOAs) that make up Maldon district average decile 6.2 (1 = most deprived), close to the middle.

Police-recorded crime from data.police.uk (September 2017 to August 2026), ONS population estimates and Census 2021. Definitions and limitations: methodology.